Payroll-Tax Rise, Not Sequester, Blamed for Jobs Weakness

Washington's budget tightening appears to have finally hit the U.S. labor market, but so far it hasn't happened the way the nation's political debate suggested it would.

The budget cuts across federal agencies starting March 1—known as sequestration—have long been expected to depress government payrolls as agencies implement hiring freezes and furloughs. But the March figures showed a relatively minor dip in the federal government...